Palin Accuses Obama Of Being A 'Radical' Abortion Rights Supporter, Criticizes Record In State Senate

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 15 Oct 2008 - 5:00 PST

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Time magazine this week explored the latest in a series of personal attacks made by the McCain presidential campaign against Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). According to Time, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin (Alaska) claimed late last week that Obama "had once opposed providing medical care for certain newborn babies, who later died," and made statements that "without any clear context, ... seemed to suggest that Obama supported a form of infanticide." Palin opposes abortion in all cases, including rape and incest (Scherer, Time, 10/13).

On Saturday, at a rally in Johnstown, Pa., Palin described Obama as having a "radical" position on abortion rights and attacked his voting record on abortion legislation in the Illinois Legislature, the AP/Charlotte Observer reports (Douglas, AP/Charlotte Observer, 10/12). Earlier in the week, Palin said on the Laura Ingraham radio show that if "more Americans could understand how absolutely extreme that position is," there would be "a heck of a lot more outrage than we have already seen." She said at another rally that Obama had voted against providing "health care for a child who was born alive as a result of a botched abortion" (Time, 10/13).

Palin's comments were in reference to Obama's opposition as a state senator to legislation in the Illinois Legislature that would have defined any aborted fetus that showed signs of life as a "born alive infant" and provided due legal protection, even if physicians thought the fetus could not survive (AP/Charlotte Observer, 10/12). Obama as a state senator opposed three efforts in 2001, 2002 and 2003 to enact the legislation (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 9/16). Time reports that "Palin's words were carefully chosen for maximum effect, without employing any outright falsehoods." However, when "[t]aken in isolation, ... her statements were also quite misleading, as they suggested Obama supported the death of babies after birth who had a chance of survival."

According to Time, the latest attacks are part of a strategy “that the McCain campaign hopes will cut through the political clutter and current financial crisis to help convince voters that Obama is not the man they thought him to be -- nor is he fit for the most powerful job in the world." The Obama campaign has said Obama voted against the so-called "Born Alive" legislation because Illinois law already required doctors to provide medical treatment to all fetuses that after abortion show signs of viability, as defined as "a reasonable likelihood of sustained survival of the fetus outside the womb, with or without artificial life support." The legislation would have expanded the definition of viability to include fetuses with signs of life that doctors determined would not have a reasonable chance of survival (Time, 10/13).

AP/Google.com Examines Palin's Promotion of Religious Causes
In related news, as reported on AP/Google.com, an Associated Press review of Palin's record as governor and as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, "reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes -- "sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state." For example, Palin served as a keynote speaker at an Alaska Right to Life "Proudly Pro-Life Dinner" in November and billed taxpayers a $60 per diem fee for her work that day, according to AP/Google.com (Burke, AP/Google.com, 10/11).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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